Parental influence on adolescents' imagination

It was hypothesized that a permissive democratic parental attitude towards childrearing and favorable accepting attitude towards children's imagination are conducive to the development of their adolescent children's imaginative ability. It was also hypothesized that the mothers' role is more crucial than that of the fathers. The subjects were 104 adolescent Israeli boys and girls and their parents. The subjects were administered four scales of the Imaginal Processes Inventory and the Children's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory. The parents filled out a questionnaire devised to study their attitude to children's imagination. The first two hypotheses were not confirmed. The data point in the opposite direction as regards the first hypothesis. There was partial conformation for the third hypothesis. The data were also discussed in relation to healthy and neurotic daydreaming.